When House Republicans went rogue this week on the subject of state aide to Detroit Public Schools, they entered into a political game of chicken – and they may have laid an egg.

In one of those infamous Lansing late-night sessions, the House voted for a DPS bill that essentially scuttled the compromise reached in the Senate that was supported by the GOP establishment, the governor and city leaders.

Instead they engaged in a bit of pandering to their constituents to show that they could be tough on Detroit and determined to halt the teacher sickouts.

In her newest column for her website, Susan Demas writes that the House Republicans’ approach could so rile Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan that he will jump into the 2018 governor’s race. Duggan has said he won’t run, but if he changes his mind he would be a formidable Democratic candidate with substantial fundraising abilities and crossover appeal to some suburban Republican voters, Demas noted.

As governor, he would take on GOP lawmakers with a ferocity that could be described as One Tough Not-a-nerd.

Demas, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, asserts that the House bill serves as a highly partisan measure designed to stick it to the teachers’ union and protect the charter school lobby. At the same time, it falls far short of providing sufficient funding to straighten out the DPS’ many woes.

Here’s more:

Teachers may sadly be an easy political target in Michigan, but Republicans should probably think twice before tangling with Duggan. He’s been around a lot longer than House Speaker Kevin Cotter (R-Mt. Pleasant) and his posse. He knows how to broker deals and deal with his enemies.

And he knows Detroit will never fully recover without a functional school district where residents want to send their kids.

If House Republicans insist on standing in the way of his city’s progress, Duggan won’t forget it.

 

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